People

Nancy Fitzroy Top Innovator in Environment and Safety: “We are the first to say, ‘Why don’t we take them away from the hazard?’ This new tool technology takes the worker out of the dangerous environment.”

George Westinghouse Top Innovator in Leadership in Innovation: “Project REACH stands for Realizing Equitable Access to Cybersecurity in High School. Under this program, the federal government allocated dollars to historically black colleges and universities or HBCUs, for them to reach out to K-12 schools and help bring those students into computer science programs.” William Hammer Top Innovator in Electrification: “SiLVERS stands for St. Louis Vehicle Electrification Rides for Seniors. The goal was to introduce EVs and electrification into environmental justice communities and integrate electrification into the nonprofit operations.”

Francis Upton Top Innovator in Analytics for Utility Service: “The new approach addresses issues where history is not a good predictor of the future due to innovative changes in reliability programs. We developed methods for defining accurate targets by accounting for all changes to make optimal decisions for allocation of financial and human resources."

Each October, PUF highlights and celebrates innovators at utilities with our Top Innovator Awards and at our Fortnightly Top Innovators conference.

Edith Clarke’s pioneering engineering and mathematical work in the 1920s and 1930s made it possible to build transmission lines longer than 200 miles or longer, essential for electrifying the western U.S. We named the Top Innovator Award in Reliability after her.

Speakers showcased technologies and solutions to reduce carbon emissions, save households money, improve the economy, build resilience, and protect U.S. security interests at the 27th Annual expo, hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and the House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucuses.

At the Nuclear Energy Security Summit, the Chairs of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness joined many other leaders at this conference on this latest nuclear renaissance that promises to deliver an impressive variety and number of new plant designs as a part of the energy transformation.

MACRUC President and Kentucky Chair Kent Chandler opened MACRUC's Annual Education Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. He later handed that MACRUC leadership position to Virginia Chair Jehmal Hudson.

Public Utilities Fortnightly hosted its popular Summer Summit Soapbox Luncheon on at the Hilton West Palm Beach in July. Volunteers made two-minute soapbox speeches on anything related to utility regulation and policy, with humor if they chose, in prose, rhyme or song.

The NARUC Summer Policy Summit convened in West Palm Beach under sunny Florida skies in July. The State Commissioners who regulate essential utility services in the public interest had a successful gathering of energy and utilities leaders to share thoughts and ideas in the face of change.